The Edmonton Oilers got an unlikely offensive boost from Eric Belanger, who played probably his best game as an Oiler while scoring his first goal since early December. Belanger led the way in the first period, picking up chances in all situations, and followed through with a strong game overall as the Oilers came out of the All Star break with a win over Colorado.

The Oilers let up a little in the third, relying on Devan Dubnyk, who made 14 of his 31 stops in the game’s final frame. Even so, the team played well for the majority of the night and fully deserved the win over the Avalanche.

#4 Taylor Hall, 6. Some interesting defensive moves bump Hall down one grade, but he remains the team’s most dynamic offensive player and easily the most compelling guy on the ice to watch. Got lots of defensive zone work tonight. Interestingly, the scorekeepers at Rexall credited him with five giveaways on the evening, which fits with what I saw.

#5 Ladislav Smid, 7. Once again, Ladislav Smid was Edmonton’s best defenseman. It’s been a stellar year from him, and his play even without Tom Gilbert has been especially impressive.

#6 Ryan Whitney, 5. I had definite mixed feelings about Whitney’s play against Colorado. On the one hand, there were very strong moments – one of them corralling Ryan Jones’ wild pass on the blue line to setup Eric Belanger’s goal. On the other hand, there were more than a few times where Whitney got boxed out of the play and simply didn’t have the foot speed to compensate.

#10 Shawn Horcoff, 4. Went 11-and-6 in the faceoff circle and had a lot of defensive zone assignments, but struggled offensively – seeming out of sync with Hall and Hemsky. He did some nice things on the PK but looked dreadful on Gabriel Landeskog’s third period marker.

#20 Eric Belanger, 8. Got off to a hot start and was personally responsible for three of the Oilers’ five first period chances – one at even-strength, one shorthanded, and one on the power play. Not only did Belanger generate chances, but he finally scored, making T.J. Galiardi pay for high-sticking Theo Peckham and breaking a lengthy drought. He followed it up with a slightly less noticeable but still strong game – probably his best as an Oiler. Belanger commented after the game how nice it was to get back to 100% with a week off; he certainly looked more like the player he was as a member of the Wild or Coyotes tonight.

#24 Theo Peckham, 4. It was an adventure tonight for the Peckham/Sutton duo, who played a tough game but got out-chanced badly.

#25 Andy Sutton, 4. Blocked a puck with his face and bailed out Jeff Petry on one shift where the young defenseman couldn’t clear the zone to save his life, but got caught in a shooting gallery in his own end a few times.

#28 Ryan Jones, 5. I waffled back and forth on Jones all game. I don’t give him a lot of credit for the assist – it was an ugly pass that Whitney did a good job of controlling – and I thought he was the least impressive player on his line, but he did some nice things on the penalty kill and didn’t play poorly overall.

#37 Lennart Petrell, 3. The fourth line didn’t get a single defensive zone start all game, but somehow ended up pinned in the defensive end on every other shift. Petrell was one of two primary culprits.

#40 Devan Dubnyk, 6. Dubnyk looked like he hadn’t missed a beat during the all-star break, stopping a tough Peter Mueller deflection early and then lunging out of the net to stop Chuck Kobasew after Jeff Petry surrendered a breakaway. There were some weak points later on, but Dubnyk held the Oilers in the game when they went to sleep in the third.

#44 Corey Potter, 3. Potter was the goat early in the second when he lost his coverage on Peter Mueller at the side of the net, than couldn’t recover and allowed Mueller to just muscle the puck in. According to David Staples, Potter contributed to six scoring chances against, and none for.

#51 Philippe Cornet, 6. Cornet started the game well, taking a hit along the boards early to advance the puck to Sam Gagner – who in turn passed to Eberle for the first goal of the contest. He played intelligently, and showcased the ‘broad range of skills’ we’ve been hearing about since draft day. I do wonder about size, strength and scoring chops down the road but he held his own against Colorado.

#55 Ben Eager, 5. In his return from back injury, Eager was the best player on his line by a mile.

#57 Anton Lander, 3. Lander had the first big opportunity of the game, ringing the puck off the iron. Unfortunately, his penchant for unforced errors in the defensive zone led to him giving up more defensively than he created offensively.

#58 Jeff Petry, 4. Had a weak start to the game, coughing up the puck in his own end and misplaying first the puck than his position as Chuck Kobasew blew by him on the breakaway. It was an inauspicious start to a chaotic night that saw Petry create offense with smart pinches, and then give chances away with bad passes or awkward positional play.

#83 Ales Hemsky, 6. Quietly started the game quite strongly, competing in the corners and winning the majority of his puck battles. Hemsky finished with just a single assist but looked refreshed coming out of the All Star break.

#89 Sam Gagner, 6. Gagner wasn’t exactly an offensive dynamo, but he did consistently make smart passes and had a strong faceoff game, a rarity for him.

#94 Ryan Smyth, 6. Smyth had a good defensive game and a sneaky offensive game; he’s slowing down but he can still take over in front of the net and he still fights in the corners as well as virtually anyone else in the game.

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